Billy Joe Saunders vs Zoltan Sera Betting Odds and Prediction

Unbeaten former WBO World Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders of England will be taking on Zoltan Sera of Hungary in a 10-round super middleweight bout at the Manchester Arena in England this Saturday, December 22nd. The fight can be seen on ESPN+ in the USA and on BT Sports Box Office in the UK. Saunders was last in the ring 12 months ago when he beat former world champion David Lemieux by unanimous decision. Sera’s last bout was just a few weeks ago when he stopped Kevin Rigo in the first round. Saunders failed a drug test in August and gave up his WBO crown after defending it three times.

Saunders vs Sera Betting Odds

My Pick

The 29-year-old Saunders, a southpaw, enters the bout with a perfect record of 26-0 along with 12 Kos. He’s hoping to earn possible big-money fights down the road with the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and/or Gennady Golovkin. He’s stepping up in weight for his first fight in a year, but is expected to go back to middleweight if he can land a top-name opponents. Saunders is a former Commonwealth Middleweight Champion with his biggest wins being against Lemieux, Andy Lee, Willie Monroe Jr and a 12-round split decision victory over fellow Englishman Chris Eubank Jr in 2014.

Saunders competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and has fought 175 rounds since turning pro the same year. Other notable opponents include Gary O’Sullivan, Artur Akavov and Jarrod Fletcher. The ex-champion stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a 71-inch reach. He’s not known as a KO artist by any stretch of the imagination with his knockout ratio currently standing at 46 per cent. He does have decent power though and Sera can’t afford to underrate it or his boxing ability. Other than the win over Lemieux, Saunders’ biggest problem is that he usually fights to the level of his opposition and does just enough to win.

Sera is a 33-year-old journeyman who enters the contest with a mark of 32-17-1 along with 22 Kos. It’s obvious he’s been hand picked as Saunders’ comeback opponent as he’s been stopped in 13 of his 17 losses. These defeats have been at the hands of boxers such as Ahmed Albiali, Steve Geffrard, Mikali Vesialou, Junior Younan, D’Mitrius Ballard, Derrick Webster, Erik Bazinyan, Avni Yildirim, Adam Etches, Caleb Plant, Sheldon Moore, Liam Smith, and Joe Selkirk. He hasn’t beaten anybody of note and just four of his last nine opponents have had winning records so Sera’s definitely stepping up in class here

It seems Sera has made a living out of getting knocked out and if you recognize more than five of the above opponents who’ve stopped him then you’re in the minority. Sera turned pro just five years ago and has boxed 176 rounds so he’s obviously been quite busy since 2013. He has managed to win the Hungarian Middleweight Title along the way as well as the WBF International Super Welterweight Title. He stands just over 5-feet-9-inches and has a wingspan of 69 inches. This gives him a two-inch disadvantage in both height and reach compared to Saunders.

Prediction…

Many fans may feel Saunders is a despicable person outside of the ring, but if he does have anything going for him in his life it’s his boxing skill inside the squared circle. The only way Sera wins this fight is by knockout and since he’s used to competing as a light heavyweight and super middleweight it’s a possibility, but a very remote one. I’m expecting the light-hitting Saunders to stop him.